Door frame construction and the like



Jan. 28, 1964 A.' w. sALTER, JR 3,119,156

DOOR FRAME CONSTRUCTION AND THE LIKE 'Y Filed Nov. 1e, 1961 United States Patent Ollice Eglll Patented `lan. 28, 1954 3,119,156 DR FRAME CONSTRUCTHGN AND THE LIKE Andrew W. Salter, Jr., l5 N. Beverly Blvd., Tucson, Ariz. Filed Nov. 16, 1961, Ser. No. 152,768 3 Claims. (Cl. Ztl-l1) My invention relates -to a door frame construction and the like and the method of producing the same. It relates more in particular to a door frame construction par'- ticularly adapted `for the production of prehung door assemblies which are both relatively inexpensive and pleasing in appearance.

There has been a considerable change in the techniques of building and in the products and materials employed, all having for their general purpose the reduction of building costs and the maintenance or improvement of building standards. One very important factor is the reduction of the total nu-mber of labor hours required at a building site, because labor is now in general a greater cost than materials. This reduction in labor costs has includedamong other things the pre-production or preforming of many pants of the building' including, for example, window frames, cabinets, doors, door frames and the like, `all of which at one time were fabricated entirely' at the building site.

While many efforts at prefabrication of building parts have been in `general successful, prehung doors and the like uni-ts have not been fully satisfactory One disadvantage of prehung door combinations, including door `frame and door, is the inability to obtain a decorative inish in keeping with the related appointments of the interior. As m example, relatively inexpensive doors are preformed of rare or hard wood laminates to have a very pleasing and rich appearance, but the door frame must of necessity have a non-matching appearance unless the great expense of solid rare or hard Wood framing is resorted to. Commonly door frames, therefore, are painted to match the Walls or, if given a Wood finish, they are a mis-match for the door having the rare wood laminate. This problem with door frames and the like runs entirely through the interior trim of the ordinary home or the like building. Where laminated sliding doors are used, for example, the frame will usually' be of non-matching appearance. Where portal-like openings are provided between rooms without a door, these openings are either plastered or, if they are made of wood, they are trequentlypaintedorothewisel finished to harmonize with Walls and the like.

The principal object of my. invention is the provision of an improved door frame.

Another object is the provision of a ldoor frame or the like constructionhaving-a pleasing finish and adapted for inexpensive production and application to the interior of a building.

Still another object is the provision of an improved prehung door assembly, thevframe of which may readily be finished to match the door Vin all respects.

A further object is the provision of a relatively inexpensive Abut highly decorative prehung door assembly.

Other specific objects and features of my invention will be apparent from the consideration of the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings: wherein- FIG, l is a perspective view showing a door' frame assembly embodying the features of the present invention, the assembly being shown set outby itself and no-t attached to any other portion of a building;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View tak-en on the line Z-Z of FlG. Il, the section including a portion of the Wall Within the opening of which the door frame is placed,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective View showing the manner in which the door frame is attached in position, and v FIGS. 4 through 7 are transverse sectional views showing the manner in which the door frame or the like memer comprising either the jamb or lintel may be produced.

Looking now irst to FIGS. 4 through 7 inclusive, I produce a special frame member by a series of steps', starting with FIG. 4, in which a relatively wide board lll of structural relatively soft lumber is iirst selected, and a pair of smaller strips lll and '12 glued to one face thereof in the manner indicated in FIG. 4. While this structure may vary in many ways, I use illustratively oneinch pine for the board 1l?, iin-ished on both sides toabout thirteen-sixteenths inch thickness. The Width for a door frame is between ii've `and-six inches optionally about tive and one-eighth inches, and the length of course may be any convenient length for Working. The strips l1 and l?. will have about the same thickness as the board l@ but, ofcourse, this dimension maybe varied extensively and the details given are entirely illustrative.

The three boards comprising the board l@ and the twoj strips ll and .1:2 being firmly glued together are then shaped to have a continuously rounded outer surface, such for example as illustrated in FIG. 5. As will be seen,- the strips 11 and 1,2 which correspond to the separate casing around the door frame, are integral with and forni a part of the door frame. A lamination 13 of finishing material such as mahogany, walnut, cherry or other rare Wood, is glued around the entire outer surface of they frame as shown in FIG. 6. The structure resulting froni the application of the lamination as shown in FIG. 6 is1 then slit to form two frame members `indicated generally by the characters 14 and lo. Preferably a series of metal doWels i7 are secured in one of the frame members andv openings 'f8` inthe opposite frame member, so that when? the two frame members are brought together they are held in firm relation and againV form an over-all structure or shape as shown in FlG. 6 before the slitting opera-j tion. The frame members sho-Wn in FIG. 7 are utilized a header assembly 23, all three assemblies comprising a" drame structure as shown in FIG. 7, and these frame structures being mitered t`o produce a three-sided door fra-me, as the drawings show. 'For further identiiicatio'nly the iarnb 211 comprises members 14a and 16a, thejarnb 22'` the members Mb and 16h, and the header 23 the members lli-4c and 16C.

A door Mis mounted on hingesv 25 secured to the jambk Z2, or more specically tothe member lob thereof. A

usual doorknob and lock combination 2.7 is suitably` mounted on the door and is aligned with a striker plate 28 providing the usual land or keeper for the lock. The' striker plate "-Zt is mounted on the jamb 2l, and'spe'cifically on the member 16a thereof.

As the prehung door assembly is provided at the building site, the combination including the two jambs and' header is, of course, separated along a vertical line be? tween the members t4 and le. For assembly they arev brought to opposite sides of the door opening and speciifcally to opposite sides of a rough frame comprising two two-by-fours 21%, plaster or plasterboard 3l being provided on opposite sides in accordance with the usual practice. The two parts of the composite frame are then brought togetherwith the dowels 17 entering the openings 18, as

shown more particularly in FIG. 2.

In the drawings and particularly in FIG. 2 I indicate a very snug relationship between the parts, but it should be understood that normally the rough framing is relatively wider so that there is some remaining space between the door jamb and header and the rough frame. In many constructions used heretofore in which the door casing is completely separate from the two jambs and header, it was a common practice to set strips or shims of wood between the jamb and rough frame so that when the jamb was nailed against the rough frame a firm unyielding structure and proper dimensions of the door opening would result. This was necessary in view of the fact that normally the door frame combination did not have inherent stability of its own. In the present construction the roughing in of the door frame may be such as to allow somewhat less space for fitting, and since the frame of the present invention is itself inherently stable, it is unnecessary to provide any shoring or shimming members of any kind. After the two-part frame has been brought together, nails 25 are driven through the portion of the frame comprising the casing and into the two-by-fours 29. These nails may be driven at any suitable points in the casing and using finishing nails, the nail holes can be puttied so that practically no disfiguration occurs. The nails, in other words, may be driven through the portion of the frame comprising the strips 11 and 12, which are equivalent to the ordinary casing. Thus space 30, normally filled by shims or the like, is left open as indicated in FIG. 2.

The best manner of practising the invention is particularly indicated in FIG. 3 in which the door frame comprises two sections indicated generally by the reference characters 32 and 33. The frame section 32, which may be called the door section, carries the hinges and striker plate, comprises part of the jamb and the part of the door frame usually identified by the term casing, on one side. It also has secured thereto three strips 34 comprising the door stop. The door stop projects partly over the edge of the frame portion 32 so that during assembly the jamb portion of frame section 33 will extend under it and the narrow slot between the two frame sections will be covered, In actual practice it is preferable that the frame section 32, without the door, be first nailed in place, and frame section 33, comprising only part of the door jamb and the casing for one side, be nailed in place. The door is hung after the frame has been fully installed.

Those skilled in the art will understand that while I have disclosed a specific embodiment of my invention, the features thereof may be employed in such a Way as to produce a quite different appearance than shown in the drawings, that is to say from a configuration standpoint. The significant feature of the invention is the provision of a frame in which the jamb and marginal molding or casing are for all practical purposes integral. Because of the relative cost of wood, the shape shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is most inexpensively produced by using three boards and gluing them together. With modern glues this produces a structure which is practically the same as if the shape had been produced from a single strip of wood, except that actually greater strength is obtained in the glued structure than can be obtained normally in a single-piece structure. The utilization of single-piece jamb and casing strips separated appropriately intermediate their side extremities for assembly on opposite sides of a door opening, and the provision of a finish such as is possible with this particular type of construction can be accomplished in various ways other than specifically described. It is, of course, obvious that while in general a curvaceous exterior is essential if a single laminating strip is to cover the entire exterior, the radius of the curves may vary extensively for the purpose of appearance. I wish also to point out that while optionally a single-piece structure may be first produced as shown in FIG. 6 and then cut into two parts in the general manner shown in FIG. 7, the two pieces may be formed separately and then fitted together in the event any advantage should be found in this approach. This procedure permits the use of narrower laminations, an advantage under certain conditions.

In applying the lamination I use conventional methods where possible, the only requirement being that the laminating strip be held firmly against the backing strip until the glue has set. The production of the basic member lends itself to either batch or continuous processing. As pointed out hereinabove, I may first produce a single piece frame member as shown in FIG. 6, and then rip it to form the two frame members 14 and 16 as shown; or I may produce separate frame members 14 and 16, in which case there are certain advantages, including the fact that a narrower lamination may have been used.

It will be observed that the continuously rounded or curved outer surfaces embrace all of the strips 11 and 12 corresponding to the casing, and a contiguous part of the boards forming the jamb and header. In other words, there is no sharply curved or angular exterior portion. The curves are gradual and in part arcuate; and the curves blend into the fiat surface of the jamb and header to form continuous smooth surfaces for effective application of the laminated strip. Thus a continuous unbroken exterior surface of pleasing and matching appearance is formed.

It should be recalled that the frame of the present invention may be employed appropriately without a door. When this is done in general it is not necessary or appropriate to' employ a strip equivalent to the stop strip 34. Under these circumstances it is advisable that the two parts of the frame be brought as close together as possible, and the crack between the two parts of the frame can be filled and, if properly finished, will merge into the gra'm of the wood and not be noticeable. The contour of the frame and location of the parting line can be controlled so as not to accentuate the appearance of such parting line.

I have described my invention in detail so that those skilled in the art may understand the manner of practising the same, but the scope of the invention is defined by the claims.

I claim:

1. A split door frame assembly comprising:

(a) a pair of frame members, each comprising 1) a pair of jamb portions (2) a header portion joining said jamb portions (3) a casing portion intimately secured to said jamb portions and said header portion to form a unitary structure (4) said casing portion forming a continuously curved surface beginning, when installed in a door opening, at the wall surface adjacent the door opening and ending at said jamb and header portions (5) said jamb and header portions forming a continuous surface extending tangentially from the continuously curved surface of said casing portion (b) positioning means functioning mutually between said pair of frame members to hold said frame members in matching relation at a door opening (c) a single piece lamination covering said continuously curved surface and said continuous surface extending tangentially therefrom.

2. The method of producing a frame member for production of a split frame assembly which includes (a) gluing a casing strip to a jamb strip near a side edge thereof to produce a unitary structure comprising a casing member and a jamb member,

(b) shaping all of the outside surface of the casing and a contiguous portion of the jamb to form a continuous curved surface and a connecting fiat surface extending tangentially therefrom,

t5 (c) applying a single lamination to the entire exterior surface of said unitary structure, and (d) longitudinally cutting said unitary structure to form two frame members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,886,860 Zern May 19, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 467,071 Great Britain June 10, 1937 606,792 Great Britain Aug. 19, 1948 

1. A SPLIT DOOR FRAME ASSEMBLY COMPRISING: (A) A PAIR OF FRAME MEMBERS, EACH COMPRISING (1) A PAIR OF JAMB PORTIONS (2) A HEADER PORTION JOINING SAID JAMB PORTIONS (3) A CASING PORTION INTIMATELY SECURED TO SAID JAMB PORTIONS AND SAID HEADER PORTION TO FORM A UNITARY STRUCTURE, (4) SAID CASING PORTION FORMING A CONTINUOUSLY CURVED SURFACE BEGINNING, WHEN INSTALLED IN A DOOR OPENING, AT THE WALL SURFACE ADJACENT THE DOOR OPENING AND ENDING AT SAID JAMB AND HEADER PORTIONS (5) SAID JAMB AND HEADER PORTIONS FORMING A CONTINUOUS SURFACE EXTENDING TANGENTIALLY FROM THE CONTINUOUSLY CURVED SURFACE OF SAID CASING PORTION (B) POSITIONING MEANS FUNCTIONING MUTUALLY BETWEEN SAID PAIR OF FRAME MEMBERS TO HOLD SAID FRAME MEMBERS IN MATCHING RELATION AT A DOOR OPENING (C) A SINGLE PIECE LAMINATION COVERING SAID CONTINUOUSLY CURVED SURFACE AND SAID CONTINUOUS SURFACE EXTENDING TANGENTIALLY THEREFROM. 